Welfare of the society

The civil engineers always look forward to construct buildings, roads, bridges or any other
structure to contribute towards the welfare of the society. Today world has become an advanced
and much more comforting place due to the contribution of civil engineers in many areas
including;

 Transportation
 Residential building construction
 Health and education
 Water conservation
 Soil investigation and land safety

Transportation systems and road construction has been vastly developed throughout the world in
accordance with various technologies in past few years. Civil engineers have contributed for the
planning, designing and constructing sections of the transportation systems in a very significant
manner to develop these systems. As we all know traffic jams are a major problem that people
face in day today life in Sri Lanka. In order to overcome this hurdle civil engineers have decided
to construct express ways such as Colombo-Galle highway, Colombo-Katunayake expressway
and overhead bridges so that the traffic will be less and the transportation systems will work
much more accurately. Broken or unmaintained roads have also slow down the transportation
system in Sri Lanka. Thus renovating the roads and constructing the rail ways are few other steps
that civil engineers have taken to develop the transportation system. These developments have
clearly save the valuable time of people and accelerate the transportation system of our country.

As we all know a house is a primary necessity of any human being. Civil engineers are the ones
who plan, design and construct these houses according to the requirements of the people. There
are various types of residential buildings today in Sri Lanka according to increasing requirements
of people and other environmental conditions. However all of these house or housing scheme
constructions are now being carried out with new modifications to meet the needs of
sustainability. Greywater recycling systems and rainwater harvesting systems are being
established in houses and housing schemes to preserve water and reduce water consumption.
Solar panels are also being fixed in houses today to preserve energy. Other than these there are
housing scheme projects such as Clearpoint residencies in Rajagiriya and Cinnamon bay in
Beruwala that are being carried out according to green building concept to help reduce global
warming and move towards sustainability. These buildings are environmentally and friendly and
it enhances the productivity and the living condition in a sustainable way.

Health and education can be described as basic human needs. Civil engineers directly contribute
for the development of health and education by constructing, maintaining and improving
facilities. Hospitals are now being constructed in each and every town to serve the need of the
people who live within the area. Civil engineers have taken action to build hospitals using the
latest technology and in an advanced manner so that there will be all the necessary facilities even
in the hospitals in rural areas. The development of transportation system has also contributed to
the effectiveness of health and hospitality system as critical patients can be transferred from one
hospital to another at a very little time.

Educational system is one of the most important sectors of a country as the education of students
effect the future of the country. Therefore, educational system is also being developed by
constructing schools which includes laboratories, indoor stadiums, playgrounds and etc. Class
rooms are also planned and designed well with sound friendly and with enough space for all the
students. These new developments have clearly helped the students to learn well and make heir
and the country’s future much brighter.

Water is one of the most limited resource in the world today. It is also a basic need of any living
being. Many countries are suffering from water scarcity and many people are dying each and
every day due to this problem. Thus civil engineers have also taken actions to reduce water
consumption and to preserve water by constructing dams such as Deduru oya, water treatment
plants such as Raddolugama and Ja-Ela , in-house greywater recycling systems, rainwater
harvesting systems etc. These preventive measurements have helped to preserve water in a very
significant manner.

Landslides are very common in Sri Lanka and these can be widely seen in districts such as
Kalutara, Galle, Hambantota, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Kandy, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Matara and
Badulla. However the geotechnical engineers of Sri Lanka monitor and observe these landslide
prone zones and take preliminary actions and advise the people who live within the area at a time
when a possible landslide may occur. Geotechnical enginners check the soil conditions, rainfall
data and climate changes regularly in order to idenfity a landslide before it could occur. Thus
these investigations help in a significant manner for the safety of people who live within these
landslide prone areas.

Conclusion

Civil Engineers played a key role in the development process of the history of mankind. Civil
engineering is the art of science which deals with the design, construction and maintenance of
physical and natural built environment which consists of work such as construction of roads,
buildings, bridges, canals, dams and etc. The increasing population demands for more and more
needs and wants which requires to the utilization of the scares and limited resources.
Exploitation of available resources to satisfy human needs has led to an extinction of resources.
Concern citizens have come up with a concept that is none of other than sustainable development
where they emphasize that development should be done without depletion of natural resources.
As discussed during the essay civil engineers have contributed to environmental protection,
Sustainability and the welfare of society in the past and in present too. Green building
technology, use of sustainable construction materials, water and waste water treatment systems,
development in transportation systems, residential building construction, health and education
are few of these approaches. However it is still required to give more attention to make the
construction industry much more sustainable. Thus more advanced new technologies such as
integrated photovoltaic glazing, kinetic roads, kinetic footfall, self-healing concrete, sustainable
concrete and thermal bridging are being developed all over the world today in order to introduce
them to the industry in the near future. Therefore, finally it can be concluded that civil engineers
have contributed to the development of mankind in a vital way and it can be expected that this
contribution will be carried on in the future too in order to make the world a much more
sustainable and environmentally friendly place.
Introduction

Civil engineers play a key role in building the artificial environment and in protecting the natural
environment, bringing together science and art to create much of the real material of today's
society. Use natural sources and manage these resources for present situations and saving them
for the future are major responsibilities of civil engineers. Planning, designing, building, and
managing airports, tunnels, bridges, buildings, harbor installations, highways, dams, waterways,
pipelines, sanitation systems and other characteristics of the constructed surroundings are carried
out by civil engineers. Civil engineers always carry out their work by keeping in mind about
environmental safety and health and productivity of human beings. However some of the
engineering practices which are used today have been unknowingly causing problems such as
global warming, uneven climate changes, environmental pollution etc. As a solution for these
concerns harmful civil engineering practices and now being changed and replaced to move
towards sustainable development. New technologies are also being experimented to introduce
these technologies to the construction industry in the near future and to make the industry much
more sustainable and environmental friendly. Therefore it is safe to say that civil engineering
industry is now changing its direction it to a new path where the priority is given towards
sustainable development.